Chapter 5

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. I created Melissa.

"Miss Evans, would you mind staying after class a minute?"

Mel nodded and motioned for her friends to go on without her. "I'll catch with you later."

"Is something wrong, Professor?" she asked, approaching Lupin's desk.

"No, no," he said, looking up from the papers he was grading. "I just wanted to check and see how you were doing."

"I'm fine. Swamped with O.W.L. work and prefect duties, but fine otherwise. And no, I have not had any more visions since the beginning of the term," she added, seeing the question form in his mind.

They were two months into the school year. During the first week, he had held her after class. They had discussed her "lineage" and just her in general. She had felt a connection to him instantly. It was nice to be able to discuss her secret with someone. Yes, she could discuss it with Dumbledore, but their conversations always felt so impersonal. She always felt better about things after discussing them with Remus. He really had become a father figure to her.

"Well," he sighed, leaning back in his chair, "I think your lack of visions are due to stress from your work load. Worrying about it won't help; it'll just stress you out more. Harry is well protected, so don't worry about him too much either. Do you plan on going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

"Yes, I always go with Angela, Cedric, and the others," she said.

"You and Mr. Diggory seem very close," he mused.

"He's just a friend," she said quickly, though she felt herself blush.

"Yes, of course," he said knowingly. "You better get going. Don't want you to be late to your next lesson."

"Bye, Remus," she muttered, hurrying out the door.

XXXX

"Cedric! Wait up!"

Cedric stopped on his way to the quidditch pitch and waited for her to catch up to him. She sprinted across the entryway, stopping abruptly in front of him.

"What is it? I need to get to the pitch before the others," he said, watching her catch her breath.

"I have a weird favor to ask you," she panted.

"What is it?" he asked, intrigued now.

"Keep an eye on H—Potter today? I can't explain why, but it's important."

"Er…ok," he agreed, completely confused.

"Thank you," she said, throwing her arms around his neck. She pulled away and gave a quick kiss on the cheek, "Good luck today."

She released and ran into the Great Hall, leaving a very dazed Cedric to make his way to the quidditch pitch.

XXX

"Do you think he's dead?"

"No, Dumbledore did that spell that slowed him down. He never hit the ground."

"But he was unconscious. What if one of the dementors…you know?"

Mel sat on the window seat in the Hufflepuff common room, trying to block out the whispers of her housemates. She was sure Harry was ok. Someone would have told her by now if he was not. However, she could not deny how terrifying it had been watching him fall over five hundred feet. At the time, she was sure her baby brother was dead. Even though she knew he was not, she still could not relax. To top it off, she had not seen Cedric since the game.

At that moment, the portrait hole opened and seven quidditch players entered. Cheers greeted them. Mel noted that they probably would have been louder if the game's events had gone differently. The team looked gratefully at everyone before dispersing. Cedric saw her in the corner and made a beeline for her. She pulled her knees up to her chin, making room for him on the narrow window seat. He sat down, a brooding look on his face.

"You did good today," she said.

He smiled and leaned back against the window. "I asked for a rematch."

"Why?" she asked, taken aback.

"It wasn't a fair win, but," he sighed, "both Wood and Madame Hooch declined. They said it was."

"Leave it to you to be noble. You sure you're supposed to be in Hufflepuff?" she teased.

He gave a weak laugh and turned to look at her, seriousness clouding his eyes. "Failed you though," he muttered. "You knew something was going to happen. Just like you knew Potter wasn't the heir of Slytherin; and just like you knew that something was going on in our third year. How?"

Mel shifted uncomfortably and looked away from him. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

"I'll keep your secret."

"That's not what I'm afraid of," she mumbled.

"Mel, when are you going to get it? There's nothing you can say that's going to drive me away. You're stuck with me."

Mel weighed her options. She really wanted to tell him, but she was still afraid of how he would react. But he had promised…

"Come with me," she said, standing up. He stood up and followed her out of the common room, their housemates shooting them curious glances as they did. She led them into an empty classroom and closed the door behind him. They sat side-by-side on the large wooden desk in front of the room.

"What I'm going to tell you will sound crazy, but I promise I'm not making it up."

"You would not be this hesitant over a lie," he said, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"You can't tell anyone," she stalled.

"Promise."

Taking a shakey breath, she began her tale.

XXX

"So…Potter's your brother?"

"More or less," she said. She was lying across the desk, one arm over her tired eyes blocking out the light of the classroom. They had been talking for two hours. Cedric had had many questions, so it had taken her awhile to explain everything.

"And Professor Lupin is one-fourth of your parents?"

"Again, more or less."

"As are Potter's parents and Sirius Black? And your connection to them allows you to know when they're in trouble or, in Black's case, innocent?"

"Yes and yes, and kind of. I just see things that relate to my 'family.' They mostly deal with Harry because I'm supposed to help him."

"Guess we were wrong," he said after a few minutes.

"About what?" she asked, sitting up and looking at him. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair a mess from him running his fingers through it. He was still in his quidditch robes, which were covered in mud. It was the most disheveled she had ever seen him.

"About you being a muggle born."

"Is that important?" she asked, annoyed and confused.

"No," he shrugged. "Just a fact. Also, your entire family was in Gryffindor and you're in Hufflepuff. Well, all of the Blacks but Sirius were in Slytherin. Still it's odd you're in Hufflepuff. Wonder why that is?"

"No idea. It's one of the many mysteries of the universe," she said sarcastically, causing him to roll his eyes.

"You're a mess, by the way," he teased.

"Have you seen yourself recently? At least I'm not covered in mud," she said. He chuckled and shook his head at her. "So," she began nervously, "are you freaked out?"

"No," he said, looking her straight in the eye to show that he was being honest. "I mean, yes, parts of your past are a bit odd. But, if anything, I understand things better now. Why you'd have those weird episodes in class, why you continue to study Divination, why you asked me to watch out for Potter, it all makes sense now."

"So, you're ok with everything? Even the fact that I wouldn't exist if that spell had never been cast? That one day my visions will go beyond any connections with my 'family'? That I even see the future? None of that bothers you?" she interrogated, searching his face for some trace of fear or judgment. But did not find any.

"No, none of that matters to me. You're still you. All this is…is your background, your heritage. It's a part of you, but it doesn't completely define you."

"Thanks, Ced."

"No problem. I'm glad you told me," he said sincerely. He hopped off the desk and said, "Come on, we should get back. It's after hours."

She nodded and got off the desk. Silently, they walked back to the common room, which was empty when they entered.

"Night, Mel."

"Night, Ced," she said, before turning and climbing the stairs to her room.

XXX

"So where did you and Cedric disappear to last night?" Angela asked. It was late the next morning. Mel had only been up for twenty minutes and groaned when Angela opened the door. She was not in the mood for an interrogation, still exhausted from the night before.

"We just talked. Nothing happened. Please leave me in peace," she said, burying her head under her pillow. She felt something heavy sit on the end of her bed. She moved her head ever so slightly and saw Angela looking very cross at her.

"Mel," she said between gritted teeth. "I'm giving you until the end of Christmas break to tell, or show—which is what I would prefer. You two have the talking down—Cedric how you feel. Everyone can tell that you two like each other, and we're getting tired of waiting for one of you to do something about it."

"Why until the end of break?"

"Because Cedric's going to ask you to spend the holidays with him. You're going to accept. To make sure you do, neither Lindsey or myself are inviting you home with us," she said smugly. "You have no choice."

Mel remained silent, unable to think of a clever retort. She was torn between being grateful and frustrated with her friend. Why were they all trying to control her and Cedric's lives?

XXX

"Come on, Mel. You need to get up, we're meeting the guys soon," Cedric said, standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom. Mel groaned and pulled her covers closer. She was so warm and comfortable; she did not want to get up. "Mel!"

"Go without me. I'm perfectly happy here," she mumbled sleepily. She heard the door creak and thought he had given up. The she was suddenly assaulted by cold air as her blankets were ripped off of her.

"Hey!" she protested, sitting up and glaring at him. "I said to go without me!"

"Yeah, well, we need another player for quidditch. Besides, you don't want to be here when my grandparents arrive," he smirked. "Remember what happened last time?"

Melissa blushed as she remembered: His grandparents, particularly his grandmother, had cornered and questioned her for hours about her, her heritage, her past, and her relationship with Cedric, who had been out with his father at the time.

"Fair enough," she muttered under her breath. She pushed herself off the bed; walked over to the door and said, "Out with you."

"Why?" Cedric asked, dropping the blankets onto the bed.

"Because I need to get dressed, duh. It's a bit too cold to just go out in my pj's."

"But you girls take forever to get dressed," Cedric whined as he half-walked, half-stomped to the door.

"Guess you should've woken me up earlier," she said, laughing at his child-like antics. He heaved a sad sign before running down the hall, probably on his way to a second or third breakfast by now. Mel closed the door, still laughing at him, and proceeded to get dressed. All she really had to do was throw her hair in a ponytail, brush her teeth, and put on several layers of warm clothes. She was actually ready to go in ten minutes.

"It's a miracle!" Cedric exclaimed as she entered the kitchen. Mel rolled her eyes at him and sat down, helping herself to a sandwich.

"What? No comeback?" he teased.

"No, some of use didn't regress to being five overnight," she said. "By the way, be prepared to lose today."

"Excuse me? There's no way that you and Drew can beat me and Ryan in quidditch," he said indignantly.

"Don't be so sure about that," she taunted.

"Whatever. And weren't you just complaining about me acting like a five year old?"

Mel shrugged and began quickly eating breakfast. When she finished, Cedric was staring at her in shock.

"I don't think I've ever seen you, or any other girl, eat that fast."

"Come on," she said rolling her eyes. She grabbed her coat from the hooks by the door and walked over to the fireplace. Cedric joined her, carrying his own coat and some floo powder. She took some powder and threw it into the fire, causing green flames to spring up. She stepped into them and said, "Ryan William's house."

After a few seconds of a deafening roar of air and being suffocated by ash, she was falling onto the wooden floor of the Williams' living room.

"Nice, Mel," Ryan taunted as he helped her up. The fire turned green and Cedric smoothly stepped out of the fireplace.

"Very graceful, Mel," Cedric smirked.

"Shut up," she snapped. "I haven't spent my whole life travelling by floo powder."

"Fair enough, fair enough" Ryan said trying to placate her.

She rolled her eyes at their mocking looks and brushed ash off her clothes. "Where's Drew?"

"In the kitchen, inhaling all the food," Ryan said.

"Let's go get him," Mel said, walking toward the kitchen.

"Someone's in a hurry to lose," Ryan joked.

Mel ignored him and entered the kitchen to see Drew shoveling food into his mouth. The sight was comical, cartoonish even. She could not stop herself from laughing at the sight.

"Merlin, Drew," Cedric exclaimed, "Don't your parents feed you?"

"I'm a growing lad and need to eat a lot," Drew said, swallowing his food. "We ready to play?"

"Yep, Mel finally decided to get out of bed."

Mel shot a quick glare at him and said, "Let's just get this over with. I can't wait to see these two mope when we beat them."

"Here, here!" Drew said, jumping out of his chair and running toward the door. The other three laughed as they followed him outside.

XXX

"I can't believe they beat us!" Ryan moaned later that evening. The four friends were back in Ryan's living room huddling under blankets, their coats, mittens, scarves and boots drying by the fire.

"And not just once, but seven times," Mel taunted.

Cedric groaned, "That's enough, you two. It's over. Mel, we all know you and Drew won, quit provoking Ryan. You know he doesn't take losing well."

"Fine," both grumbled.

"Anyone want hot chocolate?" Ryan offered after a few minutes. They all said yes, and Ryan got up and went to the kitchen.

"Mel, how come you've never tried out for the team?" Drew asked.

"I don't know," Mel shrugged. "Never thought about it."

"You should try out for keeper, Goldburg's leaving this year," he encouraged.

"We'll see. My classes keep me pretty busy."

"But we'd be unbeatable!" Drew whined. She and Cedric laughed, though her attention was quickly diverted to Ryan, who was practically skipping back into the room.

"That is not hot chocolate," she said, eying the bottle of firewhiskey with contempt.

"No, it's better!" Ryan said enthusiastically. "Ced and I can drown our sorrows, and you and Drew can celebrate!"

"Come on, Mel," Cedric said, taking two glasses from Ryan and handing one to her. "What're you afraid of?"

She took the glass, accepting his unspoken challenge. Ryan handed a third glass to Drew and then filled all their glasses.

"To quidditch," he cheered.

"To quidditch!" they said, before downing their drinks. Mel coughed a bit as the warm liquid slid down her throat, making her whole body feel warm and tingly. Ryan quickly poured them another and another. Soon Mel was feeling dizzy and light-headed, and was very giggly. Somewhere in the back her mind, she knew she had reached her limit. But the firewhiskey actually tasted good now and she did not think there was a problem. Besides, the boys were not stopping.

XXX

"Mel," Cedric whispered, gently dropping their winter gear to the floor as he supported her. "Do you think you can make it up the stairs?"

"Um, if the floor stops moving."

While it had been a few hours since they all passed out from drinking, Mel was still a bit drunk. Cedric was only a bit better: he knew they had to be quiet, but was not sure why.

"Ok, put your arms around my neck. I'll carry you."

She did as he instructed, and he cradled her in his arms as he slowly made his way upstairs. She laid her on his shoulder and her breathing slowed, making him think she had fallen asleep. He found it difficult to concentrate on walking as her scent enveloped his senses. It had the unfortunate effect of bringing old fantasies to the forefront of his thoughts when he really needed all his focus to put one foot in front of the other. He stumbled a bit, but never feel or lost his grip on Mel. After what seemed like forever, he reached the guest bedroom door, which was, thankfully, opened. He pushed the door open with his foot and walked inside and gently lowered Mel onto the bed.

She groaned and pushed herself up so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Where are we?" she asked, dazed.

"In my house," he whispered. "You're fine, just go to sleep."

"I'm not tired," she said, standing up. She lost her balance and ended up falling against Cedric, who she then used to support herself. "Why is the floor moving?"

"It's not," Cedric said, slightly confused.

"Then why can't I stand?"

"Because you're drunk," Cedric said, holding back laughter. "Get in bed. The floor won't be moving in the morning."

"Fine," she huffed, plopping down on the bed. "But I don't know how I'll be able to sleep in here. It's so hot."

"Take your jumper off then," Cedric said. She tried, and failed miserably. She pulled the bottom over her head, but had difficulty getting it off. Cedric tried to help up, but all her fidgeting made it difficult. When he did end up getting it off, he lost his balance and fell onto the bed next to her. Mel burst into giggles, causing Cedric to clamp his hand over her mouth.

"Shh," he whispered. "Don't want to wake anyone up."

She nodded her head, and scooted closer to him. He rolled himself onto his side and looked at the pretty girl next to him who was fighting to stay awake. Absentmindedly, he noticed that she was wearing a light green tank top, and thought it was silly that she had taken off her jumper: she would get cold later. He sat up and pulled the blankets out from under him, motioning for Mel to do the same. Happy that she would be warm, he leaned against the headboard, staring dreamily into space. An owl hooted outside and caused Mel to shoot up next to him.

"It's ok, Mel," he said. "It's just an owl."

"There was an owl that lived near the orphanage," she said, snuggling next to him and leaning her head against his shoulder. "I used to listen to it until I would fall asleep. Then one night it disappeared. I had trouble sleeping because it was too quiet, and April wouldn't let me open the window because she was scared of monsters. Do you know, I've never heard from her since she left? Or any of the kids for that matter? Victoria writes occasionally, but she's started her own family now."

Cedric, sensing her sadness, wrapped an arm around her as best he could and kissed the top of her head. "I'll never leave you," he whispered, "promise."

She titled her head up so that she could look at him. "I know."

Cedric, thinking this was as good a moment as any, cupped her chin and closed the space between them. The softness of her lips and her warmth were far better than anything he had ever imagined. When they parted, Cedric could see that Mel was exhausted. Grinning to himself, he lay down and pulled her next to him, holding her close. Within minutes both were asleep with the faint hint of smiles still on their faces.

AN: Just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone reading this. And to shamelessly beg for reviews. If you have an extra minute, I would love a review or even constructive feedback. K, that's it. Thanks for reading :)